scowling Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Yup, mass market big sellers only is what Hasbro demands. As such, WotC will be unlikely to produce any D&D products other than hardcovers, novels and plastic miniatures for the foreseeable future. Heck, we're going to be seeing as many as three new d20 hardcover game supplements a month. It's gonna backfire, though: as a 'casual' D&D-er, all I was buying from WotC were the hardcovers. Not a big investment, with only one hardcover release every few months. Now, unfortunately, they've lost my dollar completely. I gave Fiend Folio a pass. All that said, I've written before that the random pack system is an extremely good idea for everyone; few SKUs for retailers to deal with, it attracts both the gamer and collector markets, it encourages a secondary market, single figures will be *cheaper* than metal figures, pre-painted makes for good-looking games straight out of the box, increasing the visual appeal of the game and attracting new players... Basically, there's no downside. As long as it sells in Mage Knight numbers (and there's every indication that it wil sell better than the last several Mage Knight releases based on the reaction from the trade press) it's here to stay. And it will be the traditional metal miniature manufacturers, like Reaper, who will have to adapt to the new marketplace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwr_Budr Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 All that said, I've written before that the random pack system is an extremely good idea for everyone; few SKUs for retailers to deal with, it attracts both the gamer and collector markets, it encourages a secondary market, single figures will be *cheaper* than metal figures, pre-painted makes for good-looking games straight out of the box, increasing the visual appeal of the game and attracting new players... Basically, there's no downside. As long as it sells in Mage Knight numbers (and there's every indication that it wil sell better than the last several Mage Knight releases based on the reaction from the trade press) it's here to stay. And it will be the traditional metal miniature manufacturers, like Reaper, who will have to adapt to the new marketplace. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe it will come true... Or maybe not. My prediction as to what is going to happen over the next few years is as follows. More and more collectible miniatures games will come out, they will be popular for a short time, then the market will be saturated, and they will run out of "fresh" ideas. Then, as the masses move on to the next big thing, product lines will start to drop off one by one, until at the end there may or may not be anyone left producing collectible miniature games at all. And the quality miniature companies such as Reaper, Rackham, Games Workshop, etc. will be left standing amid a field of poor quality plastic corpses, unaffected for the most part by the chaos around them. Because, the fact is that the people who play collectible miniatures games are not really the same people playing hobby miniature games. Hero Clix isn't pulling fans of Confrontation away, by any stretch of the imagination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scowling Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 HeroClix isn't drawing away Confrontation fans away? Really? I must not exist, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwr_Budr Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 Now that I'll agree with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kheprera Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 I've looked at the Mage Knight and other collectable mini games, but to be honest, I want to see what I'm purchasing. As a miniature collector/painter, just because it's the "hot new thing" in the season doesn't mean I'm going to buy it. I've been in the collecting gig for decades now and I can smell a gimmick when I see one. That's all this is, and while the Clix phenomena might appeal to some (and probably a younger crowd), if I can't see what I'm buying and know "this is a gnoll," I'm not going to buy it. Not to mention it's plastic. After my one foray into the field of plastic miniatures, I will never buy another one. Plus, even though the D&D 3rd ed is still fairly new they're releasing a whole new "updated" series already. Screw that. I've got what I need to play right now, and a lot of their stuff that has been released lately has left a lot to be desired. I rarely even log onto their forums anymore due to the lack of administration and the flames that occur there (and I'm not the only one). It's a really sad day when you can forsee the downfall of the game that really started it all, simply because a bunch of corporate bigwigs want more money in their pocket from a small, in the big picture, demographic. D&D is not and never will be the massive market that Pokemon is, but Hasbro doesn't understand that. Neither did the people who took over TSR. Seems to me that history is just repeating itself right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe the Painter Posted April 15, 2003 Share Posted April 15, 2003 1) Whatever they are using seems to be grainy. It's not dark-green from being pressed in a mold, it appears to be grainy and olive grey. I have no clue what they are using to sculpt the masters. 2) The detail is soft, simplistic, and mushy. The Reaper owl-bear has much more detail in the feathers. The WOTC one looks more like scales. The black guard guy, the armor lines and edges are soft, the pose stiff, and the head/skull looks like a blob. Not the best sculpting work. -Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenM Posted April 15, 2003 Author Share Posted April 15, 2003 you have to rember also these are the promo shots of the figs, I don't think the real figs you get out of the box will have that good paint jobs. Mage Knight was same way, looked good in a pic but paint was really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haldir Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 The paintjobs in the Scrye price guide ( I look at it at the card shop) have absolutley AWEFUL paintjobs on the closeups, I've never really looked at a Wizkid fig due to don't buy into the randomness crap that they want us to buy into, so I'm not sure if these are repaints or what. NASTY NASTY NASTY like I said I may buy 1 or 2 boosters to see the new Wotkids minis but I'm not getting my hopes up. Randy M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scede Posted April 18, 2003 Share Posted April 18, 2003 Nah, the pictures in Scrye are not repaints...neither are what is on the boxes of the blister packs if you look closely. Most of the pictures are just small...BUT quite a few of them paint up pretty nicely, especiallly the orcs, trolls and draconum. Oh...and to help with the bent minis that are bent WAY back, just stick them in the microwave for about 20 seconds or so, bend and hold. It helps a lot. The only things that need to be replaced are just the weapons, which reaper sells in packs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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